Chapter Five

As everyone found a place to sit among the two small couches and three chairs we had set up for the party, I pulled Thor to the side and whispered- at least I hoped I was whispering, I couldn't control my volume very well after a few drinks- a plan I had come up with earlier for what I described as 'the best prank Midgard has ever seen'. He chuckled at the suggestion before agreeing to it, causing me to clap happily.

After a quick high-five, Thor and I joined our friends in the circle they had created around the coffee table filled with Chinese food and drinks. He sat next to Steve on the left couch while I joined Rhodey and Tony on the opposite couch, snuggling into Tony's side and closing my eyes contentedly. He sighed as if he was annoyed, but I knew it was just because we were around our friends. Still, I kept my eyes closed as I reached up and flicked his cheek, to which he responded by pulling me closer against his side and poking me harshly in the ribs. I grabbed his hand and pulled it around me like a blanket to stop him from poking me again, tugging my feet up under my legs and resting my head against his chest.

The rest of the group found seats and continued to eat and drink while they were joking, and I might have fallen asleep were it not for the rumbling in Tony's chest as he laughed at a joke I hadn't heard. To keep myself awake, I pushed myself into an upright position and grabbed a random glass of water off the table, holding it tightly to avid dropping it due to the condensation dripping down the sides.

"Come on, man!" Clint twirled a chopstick in his hand, before pointing to Thor's hammer with it. Apparently the joke I had missed was about Mjolnir. "It's a trick!"

"No, no," Thor shook his head, pouring a drink for both himself and Steve before leaning back into the couch. "It's much more than that."

Clint snorted before holding his hands out dramatically towards the hammer that was resting at the end of the coffee table in front of Thor, deepening his voice to sound more theatric. "Oh, pfft. He whoever be worthy shall haveth the power. Whatever, man! It's a trick!"

"Please," Thor offered, gesturing towards the hammer. "Be my guest."

Everyone in the group turned to face Clint at the same time, and he nodded enthusiastically as he pushed himself off the floor. Rhodey mumbled something about this being beautiful and the rest of the group situated themselves into better positions to see if this would work.

"It's all right buddy," Tony reassured Clint, waving the hand I wasn't holding flippantly through the air. "It's been a rough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

Clint gestured at Tony menacingly with his chopstick while everyone else chuckled before dropping it onto the coffee table and grabbing the handle. "You know I've seen this before." Thor nodded once, and Clint grunted as he tugged on the hammer. He tried for only a few seconds before letting out strained laughter and planting his hands on his hips. "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Can you smell the silent judgement?"

"Oh, please!" Clint motioned for Tony to take his place, stepping back and making a show out of bowing. "Be my guest, Stark, by all means."

Tony raised an eyebrow at the challenge before turning to face me, since I was still draped against his side. I huffed out of mock annoyance before pushing myself off of him so he could stand. Always one for being the center of attention, Tony unbuttoned his jacket while everyone 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed mockingly as he sauntered over to the hammer. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics."

"Physics," Rhodey scoffed.

"So if I lift it," Tony asked, sticking his hand through the wrist strap and wrapping his hand tightly around the handle, "I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course."

Tony nodded, apparently satisfied with the wager, and winked at me with a smug grin. "I will be reinstituting prima nocta." I rolled my eyes and shook my head to show just how unamused I was by his joke- though admittedly it was a little funny. And maybe a bit of a turn on... though that may be because I was drunk.

However, his plans for Asgard didn't matter considering even with one foot pushing against the table and pulling as hard as he could with both hands, Tony failed to even budge the hammer. "Be right back."

Tony returned moments later wearing the hand of his Iron Man suit, but even with the built in flight stabilizers the hammer wouldn't move. After that failed, he made Rhodey go and find the hand of his War Machine suit to help him. Yet again, they failed to lift the hammer. "Are you even pulling?" Rhodey groaned.

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent, pull!"

Bruce was the next to try and lift the hammer, seeing as this had quickly turned into a 'Who Is Worthy?' contest. He mimicked Tony's earlier position of pushing one foot against the coffee table and pulling with both hands, though he added his own touch of shouting and stepping back, waving his arms out by his sides to mimic Hulking out. "No?"

I looked around at the group and saw that they all wore matching expressions of being unimpressed. Always willing to stray from the majority, I clapped lightly for Bruce's performance. He gestured towards me with a mumbled thanks before returning to his seat next to Natasha.

Up next was Steve, and everybody cheered him on as he stood from the couch and stared at the hammer with an apprehensive smile. After rolling up his sleeves and shrugging to himself, he wrapped both hands around the handle and took a deep breath before heaving upwards. To everyone's mutual surprise, the hammer let out a tiny squeak and budged just small enough that we all had to wonder whether it actually moved or not.

When he tried again, however, the hammer remained firmly in place and Thor chuckled nervously, shaking his head. "Nothing."

Bruce held his hands out towards Natasha. "Widow?"

"Oh, no," she laughed, shaking her head as she held a beer bottle up to her lips. "No, that's not a question I need answered."

After Natasha's refusal, I stood from the couch and twirled my hands in a circle before placing them firmly on my hips. "Don't hurt yourself, honey," Tony teased as I made my way over towards the hammer. I glared at him and stuck my tongue out before kneeling down and staring intensely at the hammer.

Multiple comments were made from the group as I inspected Mjolnir, such as "She's not gonna do it," and "Quit stalling!"

I took another second to examine the weapon just to piss them off before nodding my head definitively. I turned to Thor and placed one hand lazily on the handle. "Does the offer of ruling Asgard stand for me as well?"

"If you can lift it," he agreed with a nod.

Without another word, I swung the hammer up and handed it to Thor, who took it easily from me. I winked at him as he laughed, while the rest of the team stared in stunned silence. Of course, they had no idea that Thor and I had pre-planned our little prank and that I couldn't have possibly lifted that hammer for the life of me, or that Thor had simply called the hammer to his hand while I held it uselessly, giving me the appearance of lifting it- but they didn't need to know that right away.

After Thor took the hammer from me, I turned on my heel to smile innocently at Tony. "I'm sure you'll make a beautiful queen of Asgard, Wonderboy."

"There's no way," Tony immediately denounced. "It's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint agreed with a huff before swigging his beer.

"Steve, he said a bad language word!" Maria accused, pointing at Clint.

Steve stared disbelievingly at Tony, shaking his head. "Did you tell everyone about that?"

"Are you surprised?" I asked, dropping back into my seat.

"I got it," Tony snapped his fingers before pointing at the hammer that Thor had returned to its place on the table. "It reads fingerprints. You put Charlie's fingerprints in it to fool us." He glared teasingly at me, wagging a finger like I was a child being scolded. "Naughty girl. Do you need to be punished?"

I chuckled and hummed happily, ignoring everyone's groans of disgust as I leaned in and pressed my nose against Tony's with a small giggle.

"You're seriously gonna tell me that Charlie is more worthy than the rest of us?" Clint scoffed, shaking his head and taking a long swig of his beer. "I don't believe it for a minute."

Just after I pressed a quick kiss to Tony's lips and was leaning in for a second one, a sharp ringing pierced the air and caused me to involuntarily flinch backwards, covering my ears in an attempt to shield myself from the awful sound.